Little hard cash on the table during Yemen talks

Conference will be asked for money to alleviate poverty and fight terrorism, but diplomats say there will be no promises.

LONDON // Yemen will ask for a lot and be offered very little, at least immediately, when its ministers sit down for a conference in London today on the future of their country. Representatives from the US, the European Union and the Gulf Co-operation Council will face calls from the Yemenis for more money to tackle the rising threat from al Qa'eda and, especially, more money - US$50 billion (Dh184bn) over 10 years - for infrastructure, poverty alleviation and development projects.

But few promises of hard cash are expected to be forthcoming at a meeting that is only scheduled to last two hours and is, in reality, merely a curtain-raiser to the main event in London tomorrow: a conference on the future of Afghanistan. That conference will be attended by about 60 national leaders or foreign ministers. The Yemen gathering will attract only a third of that figure. "Of course it will not solve all the problems of Yemen in two hours," admits Tim Torlot, the British ambassador to Yemen. "It will not be a pledge conference. There will be no new offers of money, no promises of particular activities. It's the beginning of a process."

The US and Britain have already promised more cash to bolster the Yemenis' fight against al Qa'eda in the wake of the failed airline suicide bombing over Detroit on Christmas Day. Development aid is also desperately needed in an impoverished country struggling not only with a resurgent al Qa'eda, but also against armed rebels in the north and secessionists in the south. However, the wealthy nations are worried about the state of democracy in Yemen, the government's inability to deliver services to much of its people, Sana'a's record on human rights and institutionalised corruption.

Iranian interference in Yemen's affairs is another growing concern in the West and among Gulf states. But bu Bakr al Qirbi, Yemen's foreign minister, has made it plain that, while the Yemenis will accept the money, they will brook no interference with their internal affairs. "The Yemeni government will not accept anything in the London conference that will harm its sovereignty or lead to interference in its internal affairs," he said.

"The issues of human rights and freedom of the press are all issues that come within the national agenda of reforms. It doesn't need to come through the London conference." His position was echoed by hundreds of Yemeni tribal chiefs yesterday when they rejected any sort of foreign intervention in the country and denied there was any tribal connection to terrorism. "We do reject any foreign intervention in Yemen's internal affairs and we confirm that Yemen's problems should be sorted out among Yemenis themselves," they said in a statement released after the tribal gathering in Sana'a.

Among the clerics attending the meeting was Sheikh Abdulmajeed al Zindani, an influential spiritual leader and hardliner labelled a "global terrorist" by the United States. Earlier this month, Mr al Zindani led a gathering of the Yemeni clerics' association that warned it would declare jihad if the US sends troops to Yemen. Yesterday's tribal meeting said it rejected "all sabotage and terrorism activities" while condemning the interference of foreign governments "in Yemen's internal affairs under the pretext of fighting terrorism".

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, who will jointly chair the conference with Ali Muhammad al Mujawar, his Yemeni counterpart, insists that troops will not be sent. He said on Monday: "We can strengthen support for Yemen in its efforts against al Qa'eda and we can help the government of Yemen with development and governance." Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who flew into London yesterday for both the Yemen and Afghanistan conferences, believes the event will "consolidate international support for Yemen".

The state department said that the purpose was to "co-ordinate assistance efforts, and reach agreement on assisting Yemen in its political and economic reform efforts". Mr al Qirbi accepts that a "new approach" is needed in his country, which he denies is a failed state but accepts it is at risk of becoming one. In an interview with Sky News in London, he said that Yemen was looking for help with building such services as education and health. He saw poverty alleviation through job creation as the most effective way of countering al Qa'eda.

"The best way to deal with terrorism is to build the capabilities of counter-terrorism within the country itself and let them do the job," he said. Gen David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, revealed this week that US funding to Yemen for counter-terrorism and special forces' operations would increase to about $150 million this year, up from $67m in 2009. The money would go on such projects as "development of a special operations aviation regiment, help with the development of their coastguard, development of major elements of their special operations and counter-terrorist forces, as well as select conventional forces," he said.

Of more immediate concern to the Yemenis, however, is to get direct flights restored between London and Sana'a. Mr Brown suspended them last week because of the terrorist threat. The move came as a further blow to Yemen's economy, and Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general who will also be attending the gathering, has stressed his concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.

He has also made it clear that he believes the fight against al Qa'eda in Yemen has much broader regional implications for the global fight against terrorism. Nevertheless, fears persist in Yemen that the West is edging towards troop deployments. Sadiq Abdullah al Ahmar, the chief of Hashid, the biggest tribe in Yemen, said foreign intervention would turn the country into another Iraq, Afghanistan or Somalia.

Yemenis are concerned, he said, that the London conference is a step towards opening the door to foreign intervention. "I do call all tribes and political parties to put their differences aside and challenge this grave danger," he said. [e-mail] [e-mail]